Ireland worst in world for digital health policies, new report finds
As Well Have Ireland, To Now Or In Prescribing Virtual As Better E Appointments, Telemedicine Patients Access
Ireland ranks worst in the world for digital health policies, despite improvements seen through the pandemic, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has said.
A report on health systems found “countries are struggling to maximise the value from digital health because technologies and the data environment are often outdated and fragmented".
Among the concerns highlighted is that 75% of global fax traffic is related to medical services.
In ranking 22 countries for their ability to share health data across different settings, Ireland placed last.
In the top-ranked country, Denmark, patients’ data is shared through electronic health records and each person has a unique number.
Ireland also ranked last out of 22 countries for health data-set governance, which includes data-sharing and privacy controls.
The lack of access to health data in Ireland is in contrast to the high level of digital literacy identified, with Ireland ranked in the top three globally.
Ireland is also one of 15 countries where more than 60% of the population go online to interact with public bodies.
The OECD found almost 90% of responding countries offer online access to health records through a portal, although less than half said the public could access or engage with this.
Ireland does not yet have such a portal, despite an e-health strategy published in 2013.
In 2021, the HSE suffered a devastating cyberattack.
However, analysis in early 2023 for this report, found Ireland and Korea aligned with all leading practices for digital security in health. This included a digital security culture and security measures.
The OECD found some improvements globally linked to the pandemic, including how vaccines were monitored and deployed using e-health. They quote research showing countries with better digital health systems could monitor covid-19 cases more effectively.
In Ireland, patients now have better access to telemedicine or virtual appointments, as well as e-prescribing.
The report also shows in 2021 life expectancy at birth was 80.3 years on average across OECD countries, and 82.4 in Ireland.
They found improvements in life expectancy have been slowing, exacerbated by the pandemic. This is also linked to rising levels of obesity and diabetes, as well as population ageing.
On average across 32 OECD countries, 54% of adults were overweight or obese, and 18% were obese in 2021. In Ireland, some 21% of adults self-reported as obese.
This figure was 26% in the UK and 34% in America. Men were more likely than women to be overweight or obese in all countries.
In analysing covid-19, OECD countries recorded about 6 million excess deaths from 2020 to 2022, compared to the average number of deaths over the five preceding years.
The report 'OECD Health at a Glance' can be read online.